A special recognition luncheon for the Navy Ombudsmen here at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake was held Oct. 30 at Mulligans. Melissa Tesch (NAWS), Sara Lyman (VX-9) and Kami Jenkins (VX-31) were honored and thanked by their commands during the event and were given a gift and certificate for their volunteer efforts and continued support to Navy families.

So what is an ombudsman and what do they do? Every command has an ombudsman, who is a spouse of a Sailor at the command. The ombudsman serves as the liaison between the command and the families. They are the point of contact for the families and can assist families with navigating through Navy life through resources and information.

An ombudsman is a volunteer appointed by a commanding officer to serve as a link between command leadership and command families.

Navy Family Ombudsmen are key resources for family members, particularly during deployments. Ombudsmen maintain current resource files with information on military and civilian community agencies that can help families solve a variety of problems, and successfully meet the challenges they face before, during, and after deployments.

Families may contact their respective ombudsman by calling the following numbers: